Isn't it enough?
by Iluvbeyblade
Summary: Ming-Ming has PMS, Kai's bleeding and Tala's hair is all over the shower floor. It's not a good day. And when even her friends think her boyfriend's a saint, what's a girl to do?


A belated birthday present for my darling Stormy. For gorgeous shoes bought with lies and wandering around the underwear section discussing which girl would suit what at the tops of our voices. I love you.

Enjoy!

* * *

It was the morning after a highly enjoyable girly night. Empty DVD cases and fast-food packages were piled neatly by the television and bin respectively, but the effect was somewhat spoiled by the DVDs lying scratched by a discarded sock and chicken pieces, fish scraps and rice grains happily rotting the worn carpet. The girls themselves were lying comfortably in favoured positions around the small living room. By virtue of size, Ming-Ming and Mathilda had taken the right-angled sofa while Julia and Mariah made themselves at home on a mattress on the floor. As usual, Ming-Ming had brought along her sleeping bag only to remember that so little sleeping was actually done that a sleeping bag was unnecessary. Mathilda provided more blankets than there were girls to use them, and on top of that only Mariah had bothered to change into nightwear.

Now, swaddled warmly in aforementioned blankets, two of them were indulging in their favourite past-time; half-jokingly teasing and envying Mathilda for her weight. As often as not, Ming-Ming would be included in this barrage of friendly insults but the events of the previous fifteen hours had demonstrated that she wasn't in a mood to take it lightly. At one point in a discussion about boyfriends (Julia was the lonesome spinster of the group) she had swung from laughter to anger to tears in the space of as many sentences. Wisely, they had backed off and left her to regain control of herself. All acknowledged the signs of severe PMS when they saw it, though Mathilda, who was more friendly with her than the other two, knew that this wasn't unusual. The opposite, in fact.

"I mean, honestly, Maddy, what size are you again?" asked Julia masochistically. Mathilda looked annoyed and embarrassed at the same time as she replied,

"Seven. Sometimes."

Ming-Ming leapt to her friend's defence.

"I don't know why you think that's so great," she accused, hugging her shins inside her blanket cocoon. "If you were that size, you'd look anorexic. You're heavier than her because you're a lot taller and more muscly. It suits you." Julia looked abashed, minimally. "And you," Ming-Ming pointed at Mariah through her blanket, making a questionably shaped bulge, "if you were that size you wouldn't have those hips." She paused for just a moment. Somewhere in her mind, she appreciated that the thought that had just popped into her head was inappropriate, hurtful and downright stupid. A larger part, swimming in hormones, declared gleefully that who cared, it was true, wasn't it? "And if you didn't have those hips, Rick wouldn't have gone out with you." There was a second of pure silence, like the negative of a tapped crystal. Mariah's face went from red to white and back again. Julia and Mathilda watched helplessly. The blankets worked in their favour; neither girl could easily reach the other.

"Kai's only with you because you're an easy lay," Mariah snarled back at last. Ming-Ming untangled herself from her blankets and got to her feet. She smiled an unsteady smile. Her blood was glass; brittle, quivering with every heartbeat, ready to cut her self-control to pieces.

"At least we don't think just sleeping together counts as a relationship," she said just loudly enough as she left the room.

* * *

For the third time, Ming-Ming tried to fit the key in the lock with trembling fingers. As she failed yet again, the door swung open from the inside.

"Alcohol at angelic Mathilda's house?" Kai asked in a tone that, for him, was almost playful. Ming-Ming, who was only too aware that if she hadn't defended Mathilda she wouldn't be such a quivering wreck, heard her name and reacted adversely.

"Fuck _off_," she declared, shouldering past Kai who stood open-mouthed like a fish and marching down the dark hallway.

"What's wrong?" he called after her. She was sure that he sounded mocking.

"I'm going for a shower!" As she slammed the door shut behind her she heard Kai have one more shot at communication;

"Why haven't you got any of your stuff?" Ignoring him, she started stripping off, flinging the clothes in a messy pile by the toilet. Naked, she reached behind the shower curtain and twisted both taps as far as they went. Water pounded down, filling the bathroom with white noise. Feeling slightly less as though she was about to fly apart into thousands of broken pieces, she sighed shakily and stepped under the hot, powerful jets of water, closing the curtain behind her. It took her several seconds, so instant was the relief brought on by her immersion, but eventually she registered that the bottom of the bath felt unusually textured. Squinting down, she saw the plastic under her feet was littered with tiny, sharp red specks. Disgust hit her like a punch in the chest and for a second, she forgot to breathe. Regaining the ability, she wrenched the shower curtain aside and got out so quickly that she nearly fell. Grabbing a towel, she scrubbed frantically at her feet then flung the towel loosely around herself and stormed out of the bathroom. A moment's silence (marred by the blood rushing in her ears) was all it took to hear the sounds of clinking dishes from her left. She hurtled into the kitchen. Without even bothering to put a T-shirt on, Kai was doing the dishes. The sight added fuel to the fire - he never used enough washing-up liquid, how were those plates ever going to be clean? They could catch food poisoning from Kai's ineptitude!

"I told you to get that lunatic to stop shaving in the shower - or at the very least to clean it up afterwards!" she raged. A dish slipped from Kai's hand into the milky water. "I was _standing_ in his disgusting hair - it's stuck to my _feet_! Do you know what that could _be_? Do you know how _foul_ that is?" She was gesturing wildly with one hand; the towel had drastically slipped and was just about managing to cover her lower half. Kai sighed heavily and took a step in her direction.

"It can't be that, Mimi, because-"

"I don't care!" she shrieked. "I don't like it! You know I don't, you bastard!" She glared at him and noticed with horror that there was a familiar bulge in his trousers. Mariah's words came back with dreadful clarity. I am not an easy lay, she told herself fiercely. There was a glass on the counter, near her hand. Kai hadn't washed it yet. Lazy. She grabbed it and flung it as hard as she could at Kai's approaching head. Quick as a snake, Kai blocked it with his bare forearm. It fell to the floor and shattered into innumerable pieces. Show-off, Ming-Ming thought.

"What the fuck?" Kai demanded, blood beginning to well up in the gash on his arm. Ming-Ming smiled and laughed like a hyena.

"Come on, Kai," she taunted, "you wouldn't hit a girl, would you, not with your stupid morals about honour and respect and all that shit you say to convince people you're not as soulless as they think, come on, come on!"

She flinched back as he loomed in front of her, but all he did was tug her towel back up to just above her breasts then put both arms around her and hold her in a restraining hug. The fight leaked out of her. She leant against him and gave herself over to inconsolable sobs.

"I'm s-sorry," she mumbled through hiccoughs.

"You're tired," he replied awkwardly. "I get it." She wailed and clung tighter, touched by his male inability to mention something as female as the menstrual cycle.

"Why do you put up with me?" she asked several minutes later, still in the same position, watching the trickle of blood wind its way through his fingers.

"Not a clue," he said darkly. Quickly she looked up at him, expecting a half-smile. He gave the required facial expression but with effort and Ming-Ming read the deception loud and clear.

"Bastard!" she hissed and pushed him away, fleeing to the bathroom to get her clothes. "Fine! I'll go!" She would go back to Mathilda's house. Mariah would come around when she heard about boy problems, wouldn't she?

* * *

Kai watched her go, cradling his stinging forearm so that blood wouldn't stain the carpet. He winced as she slammed the door behind her and then trudged into the kitchen. Crouching down, he began to pick up the shards of glass on the floor. Mere seconds later, Tala came down the stairs and stuck his head around the half-open kitchen door.

"Oh, I thought I heard someone screaming. Pop princess gone psycho again?" He inspected the scene before him, face sour with displeasure. "Stop picking up the glass, you idiot, no need to bleed over her."

Kai gritted his teeth and didn't say a word. Living in the same house as two people who hated each other was an excellent lesson in self-restraint. Also in stubbornness. He continued to carefully scoop each fragment into the sparkling pile in his hand as Tala walked over to the sink and started rummaging around in the cupboard underneath it.

"What set her hormonal majesty off this time?" Tala asked, his voice slightly raised over the clatter he was making.

"You, what else?" Kai snapped. Tala clattered in verbal silence for several seconds before saying,

"Oh, I remember. The shower."

"Yes, the fucking shower," Kai said angrily, balancing a thick piece of glass against his ring finger. He let out a shocked yelp of pain as Tala stamped on his hand full of glass and ground his heel for good measure. He leapt to his feet, calling Tala every name under the sun as the blood ran from his injured hand. Tala faced him coolly but with a facial tic that indicated he was just as angry. Making the most of his three inch height difference, he told Kai in a falsey bright voice,

"Aren't you lucky she didn't know I used her razor?" He pointed behind Kai and left without another word. Kai waited until he had gone all the way back upstairs before turning to see what he had pointed to.

A dustpan and brush sat smugly on the table.

Kai shook his head. He would never understand Tala. His incessant shaving was one of his less strange obsessions - and it was definitely classed as an obsession. Not only did he shave his legs and arms daily, but, as Kai had tried to tell Ming-Ming, he waxed his pubic hair. _Waxed_. The very thought made Kai feel sick.

He went to wash the congealed blood off his arm and tend to his crimson hand. Two more scars to add to the list.

* * *

The four girls sat in frigid silence. Ming-Ming had stopped crying five minutes ago but showed no signs of wanting to leave the combined embrace of Julia and Mathilda. No-one had said anything for what felt like an age; it was all very well Ming-Ming getting upset over a boy. They all knew how to deal with that. But what did they say when all they could think was that Kai Hiwatari was some kind of saint for putting up with Ming-Ming's irrationality? It was hard to sympathise with the one in the wrong, even for best friends. Mariah was in a happier position; right now she hated both Ming-Ming and Kai equally.

"But," Ming-Ming began plaintively, "don't you think he should have known not to say that, when I'm like this?"

Julia braced herself for a possible backlash as she said what she really thought; "In all seriousness, Ming, I'd have hit you round the head with a chair by now if I was Kai." Ming-Ming pulled a sulky face, trying to back away from the truth.

"Don't call me Ming," she complained, "it makes me sound like an expensive vase."

Mariah leaned over and whispered into Julia's ear,

"What, over-rated and easily breakable?"

Julia didn't know whether to laugh or frown. She did both and disguised it badly as a coughing fit. Ming-Ming looked at her sharply and she cringed, but Ming-Ming just gave her a watery smile and stood up. Everybody breathed a sigh of relief that the latest hormone spike had finally died down.

"I should go and apologise to Kai," she said miserably. Seeing her friend so woebegone was too much for Mathilda. Her thin facade of disapproval cracked and she stood up too, hugging Ming-Ming tightly.

"You should, but remember, it's not all your fault. Hormones are a bitch." She kissed Ming-Ming on the cheek as she finished, felt the slightly homophobic girl twitch and immediately turned bright red. "Well?" She flapped her hands wildly. "What are you waiting for? Shoo!" Ming-Ming smiled and grabbed her things.

"Yes, m'am!"

As the door closed behind Ming-Ming, Mathilda turned reluctantly to face the very interested stares of Mariah and Julia.

* * *

Ming-Ming tiptoed inside the house, listening hard. The sound of television blared out from the living room but she had no way of telling whether it was Tala or Kai in there. Damned if she was going to go anywhere near Tala; no doubt he knew everything that had happened. He was creepy like that. Luckily for her, the living room door opened (the sound got even louder, if that was possible) and out came Kai. He nearly fell over his own feet when he saw her and they stared at each other warily from opposite ends of the hallway.

"I'm sorry," Ming-Ming said, forcing the words to emerge more loudly than the whisper they were in her head. "You know what I'm like. I just ... lose my head." Kai made no reply. She wriggled one foot into the carpet nervously. "You can be angry if you want. I went too far this time." Reminded of her attack, she searched for Kai's arm. The shallow gash was clearly visible but what made her gasp was the bloodstained bandage wrapped tightly many times around his hand. "Did I do that?" she quavered. Kai shook his head.

"Tala."

"What?" Anger fizzed through her like an electrical charge. Kai rolled his eyes.

"He was trying to help."

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"Tala doesn't make sense. You know that." Kai toyed with the end of the bandage. "I think he felt guilty about upsetting you - yeah, I know you don't believe that but I _do_." Chastened, Ming-Ming closed her mouth. "He's not good with stuff like that." Ming-Ming made an acknowledging noise through gritted teeth. "You gonna stand there all day, or do you want to come watch television with me?"

"Ok." Ming-Ming skipped up to him, grasping his other hand and squeezing it lightly. Kai pulled his hand free once they had entered the living room and stretched out on the sofa, his head braced on his uninjured hand. "Where am I supposed to go?" Ming-Ming protested. Kai shrugged, smirking and keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the television. Ming-Ming clicked her tongue in loud disapproval and gingerly edged onto the sofa, lying with her back pressed tightly against Kai's bare torso, her head resting just above his collarbone. She jumped as he put an arm around her to hold her in place. "Thanks," she said. He grunted in reply.

One hour later, the programme ended. Ming-Ming watched the credits roll for a few moments then, unable to bear it any longer, she broke the silence.

"Why haven't you broken up with me yet, Kai?" She felt Kai's muscles tense momentarily.

"Do you _want_ me to?" he asked peevishly.

"No!" She picked at a speck of dirt on his bandage. "I just ... oh, I don't know. I wouldn't stay with me. And, maybe one of these days I'll really hurt you, and, and, I wouldn't want that." She tried to gather her thoughts into something more coherent. "I just want to know, am I really that special? Why are you still here?" Kai's arm tightened around her and she felt a kiss on the top of her head.

"Isn't it enough that I am?"

* * *

It was late evening, a week on. Ming-Ming had been out at the recording studio for most of the day and she was singing happily to herself as she parked the car and got out, arms full of sheets of music. Kai was standing at the door, arms folded. That level of grumpiness, Ming-Ming pondered, maybe Daichi had stopped round again to pester Kai for a beybattle.

"You're back late," he accused. She nodded and waltzed up to him, kissing him smack on the mouth.

"What _can_ I do to make it up to you?" she asked sweetly. Singing made her feel emotional and throwing Kai into the mix too just made her plain old horny. Kai didn't bother reply, just gave her a look that made her feel deliciously naked. "Give me five, let me dump this stuff in our room." He nodded reluctantly and let her pass.

Giggling to herself, Ming-Ming trotted up the stairs. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't hear the suspicious sounds coming from Tala's bedroom until it was too late. She had to turn a corner to reach her and Kai's room and the action rewarded her with a perfect view of Tala's bed through the open door.

So entwined were the two men that for a surreal second she thought Tala was somehow having sex with himself. Then one redhead sank his teeth into the other's shoulder and the resulting moan had a glottal Scottish ending. Ah, Johnny. She was now annoyed for being so stupid; even ignoring the different shade of hair colour, Johnny was much hairer than Tala. Not like that was an achievement, mind you. _She_ was probably hairer than Tala. The lunatic positively gleamed.

Anyway, why was she watching this?

"Shut the door, you freaks," she snapped. Tala graced her with a scalding look. Johnny scowled and replied

"No-one's asking you to watch."

Heat rushed to Ming-Ming's head and she sought a suitable retort.

"There's not much to watch," she claimed with satisfaction. Tala looked rather as though she'd just kicked him in the mentioned parts. Johnny laughed and gave her a terrifyingly lecherous smile.

"If there was, you'd be liking that?" He made as if to throw Tala off and stand up. Now it was Tala's turn to laugh and Ming-Ming's turn to blush and stutter and look away from the two powerfully built redheads, staring at her music sheets as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

"No!" Ming-Ming's head was in bits; her continued arousal was unnerving her. The sound of footsteps clumping up the stairs was seized on with delight as a distraction.

"Ming-Ming!" Daichi yelled. "Kai says you're taking too long!"

Ming-Ming looked between the scene in front of her and earnest Daichi, pounding up the last few steps and waving at her in greeting. A wicked smile spread across her face and she walked over to him.

It was common knowledge that Daichi had a man-crush on Tala. He idolised him. But, Ming-Ming pondered, was there more to it?

"Hey, Daichi!" She slapped a high-five with him, had to reach up and was momentarily taken aback by his new height. She hadn't seen him in a while and he'd apparently decided to hit puberty at last. All the better. "Tala wants to talk to you. He's just in there." She indicated the correct bedroom. Daichi's face lit up and he hurried down the corridor. Suffocating in silent giggles, Ming-Ming followed him.

He had stopped dead and was staring into the room with a glazed expression.

"Evening, Daichi," Tala said from inside the room. "Oh, what am I thinking? Such awful hospitability. Excuse me, Johnny." The sound of linen against bare skin then slow footsteps. Ming-Ming determinedly kept her eyes at face level as Tala stood in the doorway. Ridiculously, he stretched out a hand for Daichi to shake. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"N-n-no." Daichi's face was deep pink and the hand he reached out with was trembling. Tala shook his hand firmly three times then made as if to lower it. His grip was as tight as ever, so Daichi's hand was dragged down to brush the skin just above Tala's thigh. Daichi made a noise somewhere between a groan and a hiss and let go of Tala's hand only slowly.

"Tala?" Johnny called from the bed where he was still lying on his stomach.

"Patience, Johnny. You'll get your turn," Tala said softly, never looking away from Daichi's stricken gaze. Johnny looked taken aback but not entirely displeased. "Are you coming in or not?" Tala asked Daichi sharply. His tone seemed to jolt Daichi back into reality. The teenager's face reddened even further and he made as if to back away. Tala shrugged. The bedroom light reflected off his chest, made slick with perspiration. "Pity. You know what they say; two's company but three is more fun." Seeming to tire of relative subtlety he stepped so close to Daichi that their nearly matching hair mingled and deftly, expertly, undid four buttons of his shirt. "Don't you want a bit of fun?" He bent his head and brushed a feathery kiss on Daichi's exposed skin.

If this had been anybody else, Ming-Ming thought, by now she would be crawling away into a small hole to die of embarrassment. But Tala appeared utterly shameless and would probably love her to show the slightest sign of discomfort. So she stood there, watching and aching.

"Tala, what the fuck you doing?" Ming-Ming jumped at Kai's voice; she hadn't heard him come up the stairs. He stood just behind her. Tala captured Daichi's momentarily diverted attention by simply grabbing him through his trousers (Daichi trembled so much that he looked unsteady on his feet) and treated Kai to a look of contempt.

"What do you _think_?" At that point, Daichi's self-control broke and he tilted his head up to kiss Tala, pressing their groins together. With a predatory smile Tala let the younger boy kiss him, pulling away enough to growl, "Unless anyone else wants to join, viewing's over." He swung the door most of the way shut. Ming-Ming couldn't resist peeking through the slit, to see Tala fall backwards onto the bed next to Johnny and Daichi frantically removing his clothes. As she was about to look away, Tala looked at her and smiled a strange smile.

"Wow," Ming-Ming breathed without quite realising she'd said that out loud.

"You liked that?" Kai's tone was prickly. Ming-Ming shrugged (so aroused she thought she might scream any second) and looked Kai straight in the eyes.

"I like you more." She led him to the bedroom and set about bringing Kai to the same state she was in.

It was a noisy night.

* * *

Well, there we go. Angsty limey crack, who'da thought?

All opinions welcomed.

xIlbx


End file.
